Introduction We know that children who grow up from a very early age with a love of books are likely to become confident, happy and successful readers in school and throughout life. This love of books begins at home and involves parents spending quality time with their children: having fun sharing books. We also know that children who do not have such positive experiences of early reading at home are at a distinct disadvantage when they start school. We know that children benefit from enjoying a wide range of reading material, including fiction, non-fiction, and books with rhyme. However, from my experience and observation, many children in early years settings do not get the essential experience they need, to cement their early understanding of reading, or to compensate for lack of experience at home. What children need in settings is a chance to spend quality time with an adult, with reading material that excites the children’s interests, in a space that is inviting. This statement, which is distilled from many books on early literacy, as well as from my own observation and experience, points to the reason why children are not spending as much time as they should in developing the foundations for reading. The big issue is this: while many settings may have designated ‘book corners’ these areas are often dank, dingy and uninviting spaces, where far too many books are squashed onto far too few shelves, with large grubby cushions as the only furniture. The only visitors to these types of spaces are children who are diehard bookworms, those seeking a bit of a snooze or possibly a place to jump around. Crucially, these spaces have become like this because they are only visited by adults for short amounts of time: either to search for a book or to tidy up. That sounds incredibly negative, but as an integral part of my work as Early Language Consultant on the Every Child a Talker (ECaT) project in Bedford and Thurrock, we decided to take each of these grim findings and turn them into pointers to help every setting transform its book area. As a result of our ‘Give your Book Corner a Makeover’ project, not only did we increase the number of children having fun sharing books, but at the same time improved children’s literacy knowledge and skills and developed their language, communication and wellbeing. Starting from the bottom up! Quite naturally you would expect me to begin by looking at books, but the place to start when trying to find out how to get more children into the book area is to look at seating, and what is on the floor. The key finding from our ECaT work was that children talk most wherever there are adults either involved with them or nearby. The main reason why book areas were vacant was because adults rarely visited or stayed for any useful length of time. When we looked closer into the reasons for this, we were surprised to find that adults were physically uncomfortable. Many areas had large cushions to sit on. These turned out to be inappropriate for several reasons: Many adults find sitting on cushions either uncomfortable or hazardous for their backs. Children tend to jump on cushions or lie on them. They can be a health hazard unless inspected and washed regularly The floor coverings were often at best unappealing and at worst filthy. What started off life as a bright colourful rug soon became very dirty, because children were standing on the rug wearing shoes that they had worn outside. Solution: remove large cushions and replace them with comfortable child-sized chairs, perhaps with a larger chair, or even a small armchair, for adults and children to sit on. If you provide a rug, it should be cleaned regularly. Children can be encouraged to take off their shoes and leave them on a small ‘welcome’ doormat. How big and where should it go? We call it a ‘book corner’, but a corner may not be a good spot. If the area is working well, then there needs to be room for at least five children and an adult to move comfortably, with enough space for books to be displayed, and possibly a table for mark making. Having a large area also gives an important message to the staff, children and parents; i.e. ‘We value literacy and so we set a lot of store by having as large and attractive a book area as possible.’ There needs to be a wide enough entrance so children can take off and put on their shoes safely and store them neatly, and for children to access and leave the space. Is it a book store or a place for sharing books? Many book areas have far too many books, making it very difficult for children to find the type of book they want, or to put them back afterwards. Solution: Spend time in the book area, asking children what types of books they like. Divide these into ‘old favourites’, ‘new books to talk about’, and ‘books the adults really like’. Remove all other books into storage. In one setting, as can be seen from the photos below, we removed the majority of books from the shelving; replacing them with relatively few books. We also took away the large, tatty plastic sofa and replaced it with a table and chairs. An adult planned to be there for at least 30 minutes per session. This led to more children visiting the area and staying for longer. Before: an overloaded hazard After: tidy, attractive and fun! Books and artefacts: involving the children The most successful areas are those where children have had some say in what the space should contain. This will depend on their current interests and a current theme from adult planning. I only find it useful to have artefacts; e.g. puppets, soft toys or plastic toys, if there is enough space for them to be to displayed or stored attractively and tidily, and for children to be able to play with them. Large soft toys, such as giant teddy bears, can get very dirty and smelly or get in the way. Solution: Introduce a small table into the area, with a wicker basket for the toys to stay and where children can play with them comfortably. Discuss with the children whether they would like a large soft toy in the area. If yes, then he needs to be looked after, behave properly, and get involved with reading! A few books and several related artefacts A small table for artefacts and a few related books Balancing fiction, non-fiction and books that rhyme The type of books we offer will be crucial for children’s involvement and learning. Ideally there should be a balance between fiction books, non-fiction books with photos and drawings and books with rhyme. Many children prefer to look at and talk about non-fiction. Non-fiction books have a distinct advantage for children who are either very young, learning English as an additional language, or have limited experience or speech and language delay. A non-fiction book can be opened at any page the child chooses, and can be talked about with adult and / or other children in detail and at length. A story book needs to be opened at the first page, followed by every page in sequence: otherwise children lose the thread of what is going on. This can be frustrating for children with additional language learning needs and restricts their understanding and involvement. Many of the most popular books rhyme, and these are crucial for children’s developing phonological awareness, so these need to be represented too. Solution: Have a balance between fiction and non-fiction books based on a theme; e.g. dinosaurs, farm animals, transport, princesses or pirates. Encourage the children to sort books into ‘stories’, ‘books about real things’ and ‘rhyming books’. (This can lead to fascinating discussions about what to do with The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom or any book by Julia Donaldson!) Books are not the only things we can read! Magazines based on children’s TV programmes and films are some of the most popular reading material for young children. One setting agreed for me to ask children what magazines they would like me to buy for them from the local supermarket. The next day I returned with their choices. We chose the children’s favourite pages, cut them out and laminated them and shared them with the children in the book area. This became a very popular resource and a starting point for involving children who would not normally visit the area. Laminated pages from children’s magazines, chosen by the children. Involving the whole family Many settings wanted to use their revamped book area as a way of involving parents in the joys of sharing books at home. Some asked parents to donate the family’s favourite magazines (‘Carp World’ and ‘The Love of Horses’ were popular in one setting, but they decided not to display Heat and OK Magazine!) Other settings invited parents and carers to a grand opening and set up a rota for parents, grandparents and Childminders to spend time sharing books with children. A book area constantly evolves One of the most successful Book Corner Makeovers was at Smarteez Community Nursery in Bedford. Their book area was originally in a small room off the main preschool room. It was full of old cushions and tatty books. Justyna Kuzio and her colleagues relocated the area to a corner of the main room, with many of the features suggested above. I returned a few months later to take some more photos, only to find that the area had been completely transformed… again! It was the beginning of a new school year, with a new group of children in the room. These children were relatively young and active, so staff asked the children what type of book area they would like. The overwhelming answer was, “A nice big chair and a table with a bright tablecloth… just like home!” So that’s what the children got! From an untidy jumble of dirty cushions and a few tatty books… To an accessible and inviting space. Then the children wanted it to look like home! The latest photo (below) shows the current book area, with the children’s favourite purple sofa given pride of place. The children’s choice at Smarteez: the hugely popular ‘reading sofa’ An ‘instant book area’ Not all settings have a large space that they can dedicate to book sharing. For these groups we developed the concept of ‘The Instant Book Area’. This consists of a colourful rug, a ‘welcome’ doormat, four wicker baskets six coloured plastic stools (from local hardware shops @£5.99) and a small collapsible tent (IKEA, £9.99). We set this out in the middle of the room, or in a prominent space, and filled the baskets with popular books or books based around a theme, and a small collection of related toys; e.g. penguins, jungle animals or farm animals. When I visit settings I bring my collection of books and toys related to children’s TV programmes and films, which is an instant hit! The area always has an adult involved and can be set up with the children and packed away in five minutes. A free online book corner audit We were able to share our work with settings throughout the world by working closely with the National Literacy Trust, creating a free interactive online book corner audit. By clicking on the link below you and your colleagues will be able to look critically at your book area, and decide on what changes you might want to make, based on our extensive practical suggestions. These will depend on whether your area is ‘not yet developed’, ‘developing’ or ‘needs enhancing’. http://www.wordsforlife.org.uk/questionnaire/index.php?option=Book+corner+audit The most important ingredient The final word must go to Karen May at Hornden Village Playgroup in Thurrock, Essex: “We made some huge changes to our book area, but the most important ingredient for attracting children into sharing books is when the staff team have planned for an adult to be in the area. If the adult has no responsibilities for that period other than to share books, we are able to have the types of quality interactions and fun experiences that children need to develop their language and love of books.” For an in-depth exploration of the ideas introduced in this article, visit http://www.talk4meaning.co.uk/every-child-a-talker/give-your-book-corner-a-makeover/
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